Tyne and Wear Metro: Line upgrade nears completion

The line upgrade, which replaced almost four miles of track, took 27 days

The largest line upgrade on the Tyne and Wear Metro in more than 30 years is nearing completion.

Services on the line between Haymarket station in Newcastle, the city's airport and Four Lane Ends, have been suspended for 27 days.

The work is part of a £385m upgrade and is the longest line closure since the Metro opened in 1980.

Nexus, which owns and manages the network, said the section will reopen for passengers on Saturday.

Bernard Garner, director general of Nexus, said: "I want to thank the public for their patience during the line closure.

"It did mean some disruption to daily journeys, and for people living near the work sites, but the project has helped to secure Metro's future for many years to come."

The closure saw almost four miles of track replaced and stations revamped on a section of line which normally sees 30,000 journeys every day and a service every three minutes during peak periods.

Nexus said the new track will provide Metro services for another 50 years and there will not need to be another line closure on such a scale until 2015.